Poultry feeder

ABSTRACT

The poultry feeder of the present invention relates to a device that will be used to store food and be a component of food dispenser mainly for birds that are found in floor or in a cage, that need to be feeding continuously, efficiently distributed, hygienic and safe, mainly during their initiation period, which extends from the first day of age until the age of twenty-one days, but can be used in adult birds or other avian species and for longer time. To solve this need, a poultry feeder is provided which comprises: a bifurcated clamp ( 100 ), a bifurcated holding nozzle ( 200 ), a shutter ( 300 ), a hopper ( 400 ) and food receiving plate ( 500 ) of a rectangular shape with rounded ends.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a poultry feeder, specifically refers toa feeder for small birds in initial stages of their growth. The poultryfeeder presented has the capacity to be connected to an automaticfeeding system, being a potential application field, a hi-tech poultryproduction place, with the objective to be used as a reservoir andfeeding source, mainly for consumption by birds being on the floor orinside a cage and that requires continuous feeding. In birds such aschickens, its typical use involves a period of time that goes from thefirst week of age until the third week of age, having the option to beused in older birds and different avian species.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Commercial poultry farming is worldwide an activity of greaterrelevance, since it is responsible for the poultry production forproductive purposes. Generally, it may be classified into two types ofproduction places, depending on their technical degree:—hi-techproduction places, dependent on various automated systemsand—traditional or non-sophisticated places that depend largely on theman hand.

The hi-tech places are the most world widely used, with 75% of thecommercial exploitation worldwide, producing more than fifty thousandmillion birds annually to produce meat. The hi-tech production placesinclude an automation in all their needed systems for an intensiveproduction, such as: feeder systems, coupling drinking systems, feederand drinking suspension systems, air-conditioning systems, among others.

While the traditional or non-sophisticated locals are rudimentary andconventional, using manual equipment such as hanging feeders andbell-type hanging drinking devices, manual energized heaters, manualcurtains, all thereof are totally dependent on human supervision at alltimes for their proper functioning.

Poultry production comprises between four to six stages. The productionof birds to produce meat generally ends between the fifth and ninth weekof age, depending on the specific type of bird that the market demands.The most important and critical stages of a bird's life are theinitiation and growth stages (on which the present invention isfocused), which includes the first three weeks of life, being the firsttwo weeks as the most important and representing up to 30% of the bird'slife, which is when the newly born birds come out of the incubationlocation and arrive at the production location where they have to learnto quickly eat and drink, and because of its body and immunologicalimmaturity, there is a need to provide a strict environmental and healthcontrol, which, otherwise would result in a significant delay in theirdevelopment and increased bird mortality.

The most important supply in this industry is the bird food, which isprovided in bulk, which represents 75% of the total production cost,being the most important factor to rationing and that any action that isintended to maximize the feeding utilization will result in a greaterproductive efficiency by increasing the economic benefit to the poultryproducer.

The “on-floor feeding system” is the traditional way to feed the chickenin their first few weeks of life which includes supplying food to thefloor without any restriction, presenting a number of disadvantages andproblems, such as is the high risk of contamination (and therefore thespread of diseases), waste of food, low feed intake, low productiveefficiency, and high production costs, impacting the efficiency of thepoultry producer. It has been observed that the “on-floor feedingsystem” is an important factor in the transmission of serious infectionsto the humans, by what has taken a relevant interest as a public healthproblem.

In spite of the fact that hi-tech production places have automaticfeeding systems, through automatic type feeders, these are not designedto properly feed the birds during their first few weeks of age so theycause a lot of the above-mentioned problems, such as food contaminationand low productivity. To improve the effectiveness of the automaticfeeders, there are inserted feeding systems in the traditional on-floorsystems that involve the use of plastic trays/cardboard, carpets ofpaper strips r, or simply to supply food to the birds in the first daysof life. These traditional auxiliary feeding sources are used only thefirst seven days of life, because the waste of food increasesproportionally with the age of the birds, as well as the foodcontamination problems, and increased risk of contamination betweenbirds.

They are used in general within the tech farms, two large families offeeders:

The automatic type, that is adjustable, is connected to a common foodsupply. Dependent on an automatic feeding system, this type correspondsto the feeder of the present invention; and

The non-automatic type, not connected feeders, which include plastictrays/cardboard, carpets of paper strips, to the direct floor andcylindrical manual feeders.

The automatic type feeders are usually of rounded shape, although thereare feeders of different shapes and sizes, oval, triangular, hexagonal,square and rectangular, but none of rectangular-rounded shape, that isto say, rectangular with rounded ends, as shown by the feeder for thepresent invention. A common problem is that the automatic feeders occupya large space inside the production location by which a smaller numberof birds per square meter is placed, reducing productivity. In addition,feeders having oval corners or edges, cause a great conflict for thebirds at the time of feeding, since birds dispute and fight for the sameeating space, thus the food consumption is significantly lower andtherefore the production results are not satisfactory.

The plastic/metal/cardboard trays have a generally rounded orrectangular shaped, and a low height, adequate to allow the birds fromthe first day of age to easily jump and eat within it, leading topollution, food waste and spread of diseases by allowing the birds towalk and even sleep within the feeder, also taking up space from theother birds to eat.

As in the trays, the existing automatic type feeders have thedisadvantage of allowing the birds to introduce themselves into theplate, walk on the food (contaminating and wasting it), and allowingresting or sleeping within the plate.

The state of the art feeders at the end of the flock and leaving theproduction location without birds, do not have mechanisms to keep overthe level of the tubes, as performed by the feeder of the presentinvention, which makes the washing and disinfecting work difficult.

In the state of the art, there are several documents relating toautomatic feeders, and within the components of these feeders, arelevant part is the connection devices between the feeder and the foodsupply tube to the feeder, the shape of the tray, and the search for abetter distribution of birds and food in order to increase theproductivity of bird production systems.

There is, for example, the document ES 238,056, which is entitled“Improved Dosing Hopper, for Feeding Birds” which is a utility model,although it is found in the state of the art of the present invention,the configuration and feeding form of the product to the hopper, differsignificantly from those used in the present invention. Also it is knownthe ES2,117,148 patent, entitled “Device for Feeding Farmyard Poultry”.This device has a circular shape and the product feeding is alsoperformed by an upper duct, but not using a system such as the onedescribed in the present invention on the basis of a choke. The patentES2,172,428, entitled “Feeder for Farmyard Poultry” is of connectabletype to a horizontal tubular conduit (4), such as that of the presentinvention, for the bulk transport of food for poultry and comprises amain vertical tubular body (1), an integral feeding necklace (6), anouter cone (11), an inner cone (14), a distributing vertical tubularbody (17) and an integral plate (20) there between, all of themcoaxially arranged and adapted so the change in level of the horizontaltubular conduit (4) causes the sliding of the main vertical tubular body(1) with respect to the distributing vertical tubular body (17),producing the downloading of the food in the plate (20) through lateralopenings (5, 6, 18) of which are located on the main vertical tubularbody (1), the inner cone (14) and the distributing vertical tubular body(17), or alternatively via inferior openings of the distributingvertical tubular body (17). The feeder can be placed in two positions,the feeding and the cleaning. Important considerations to note are thefact that the present invention comprises a valve for the supply of theproduct toward the feeder, while the '148 patent requires the rising ofthe horizontal feeding tube, which implies that the feeding is performedat the same time in each feeder regardless of whether it is required ornot.

It is also found in the state of the art, the patent ES 2,202,275, whichis entitled “Feeder or Feeding Box for Breeding Farmyard Birds inGeneral”. To control the amount of food toward the device, this patentincludes a cylindrical shutter 106 which has a tab that rotates theshutter to coincide with the feeding tube toward the plate that receivesfood, a very different action to the one used in the present document.

The patent ES 2,219,583 granted to Rouck, refers to an oval type feeder,the differences on the way to attach the feeder to the feeding tube andthe way to distribute the food to the plate are obviously different withregard to the present invention. The outer shape of the plate is similarto the shape of the plate of the present invention, however as will bedetailed later, the differences between both configurations are crucialfor a better functioning of the feeder of the present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,581,512, mentions the importance of the tray on whichthe food is dropped and shows tray designs indicating that the bestarrangement is the one shown and includes an elongated shape (oval) orin the shape of two circles that intersect (see summary). As specifiedin this patent '512, and in the rest of the documents, the configurationof the tray that receives the food and the separation system of thebirds at the time of eating are important factors for which, throughtime, is seeking an ideal way to provide an adequate distribution offood from the horizontal tube, a proper distribution of the birds aroundthe feeder so that they do not invade the same or dirty the food insideit, it has also sought a food supply system to the feeder and the feederraising in order to properly clean the floor where it sits.

There is a need to develop an automatic type feeder attachable that canreplace the traditional “on-floor feeding system”. The feeder must haveenough features to be used under any type of use, such as in productionlocations where the birds are on the floor, in production locationswhere the birds in this cage, as “complementary feeder”, as“supplementary feeder”, or when the poultry feeder is used in a mixedmanner, having the ability to achieve a greater efficiency in thefeeding and in the productivity of the birds, mainly during the firstthree weeks of life, but can be used in later stages or other avianspecies, with the condition that the height thereof is such that itprevents them from entering the feeder.

Complementary Feeder: Meaning is defined as all feeding sources such as:plastic trays, paper strips, independent cylindrical feeders, etc. thatare located between the automatic feeders, either below the automaticfeeding tube or at the side thereof, so the food assortment is made inan automated manner, or manually, depending on the case.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED

1. To prevent birds in their first three weeks of life entering thefeeder, walk, step on, contaminate the food, and/or use it as a site forrest.

2. To feed birds during their first 2 to 3 weeks of age so that they donot interfere with each other, while allowing for a greater number ofbirds per square meter within the production location.

3. The replacement of supplementary or complementary feeding sourcesthrough plastic/cardboard trays or carpet of paper/cardboard strips.

4. Provide a mechanism through which the feeders can be kept in a fixedposition, above the level of the feeding tube after the birds pass tohigher stages of growth, in order to perform the washing tasks,disinfection, and “feeder storage” in situ.

5. To achieve to evenly distribute to birds around the feeder, at thetime of feeding.

6. To increase the productivity of the production location of thefarming, avoiding the exiting of clean food going out of the feeder andthe entry of contaminants to the food inside the feeder, thus increasingthe consumption of food by the bird.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

1. Provide a poultry feeder, of the adjustable type to an automaticfeeding system, within a hi-tech production place, that prevents thebirds from entering into the feeder and stepping on the food within thefeeder contaminating it and the bird sleeps within it but that can befed.

2. Provide a poultry feeder during their first 2 to 3 weeks of age in auniform manner and that they do not interfere with each other at thetime of eating, enabling at the same time a greater number of birds persquare meter of farming.

3. Another objective of the invention is to provide a feeder with amechanism by which can be kept in at least three fixed positions, abovethe level of the feeding tube after the birds have reached higher growthstages. The feeder may also have the ability to be fixed in twodifferent positions, 130° to 150° and 150°-170° with respect to thehorizontal.

4. To increase the productivity of a bird farming, decreasing themortality of the birds and preventing food waste.

5. A poultry feeder that can be used in birds that are found in bothfloor and within a cage.

6. A poultry feeder that works as a “complementary feeder” that isdefined as a feeder that is placed below the feeding supply linesbetween the automatic type feeders of the already existing and known; asa “supplementary feeder”, which is defined as a feeder that is placedindependently to the automatic type feeders of the already existing andknown, suspended below their own automatic lines; as a combination ofthe two previous options, that is to say, both as a “complementaryfeeder” as well as a “supplementary poultry feeder” and as a solefeeder, which is defined as the only existing feeder within theproduction location only feeding supply, which is placed under theirautomatic feeding lines and without any other feeder/plate beingpresent.

7. A poultry feeder with a uniform distribution of food around theentire plate of the feeder, including the sides and the front and therear ends.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The feeder objective of the invention, as shown in FIG. 1, is of thetype connected to an existing automatic feeding system, focused onfeeding the birds from the first day of life up to 3 weeks or 21 days ofage, approximately, although it can be used with older birds and inother avian species provided that the same cannot be introduced, due toits size, in the plate of the feeder. The poultry feeder of the presentinvention comprises the following elements: a clamp, a holding nozzle, ashutter, a hopper, and a plate.

The poultry feeder plate has a rectangular shape with side and rear endsrounded, taking up less space within the production location, achievingto place more birds per square meter, thus increasing production.

The feeder allows the birds to a better birds distribution around thesame and greater feed area among the birds, avoiding the competitionbetween them and by encouraging the consumption of the food.

The feeder can be used in production locations with leveled floors,uneven floors, or when there is a complementary feeder to any type ofautomatic feeders of the already existing and known, since it has aslide holding nozzle that allows it to adapt to any surface and at anyheight when accompanying the automatic feeders without hampering theoperation of both.

The feeder has a sliding shutter used to prevent or allow the passing offood into the feeder from the feeding tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an upper isometric left perspective view of the poultryfeeder of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the poultry feeder;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the poultry feeder;

FIG. 4 shows a right side elevation view;

FIG. 5 shows a left side elevation view;

FIG. 6 is a perspective upper front view and left side view of theclamp;

FIG. 7 is a front elevation view of the clamp;

FIG. 8 is a bottom perspective view which shows the rectangular openingthrough which food passes from the feeding tube;

FIG. 9 is an upper elevation view of the clamp;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an upper and front isometric view of the inner part of thelower half of the clamp;

FIG. 12 is a bottom isometric view of the inner part of the upper halfof the clamp;

FIG. 13 is a bottom plan view of the external part of the lower half ofthe clamp;

FIG. 14 is a front upper perspective and exploded view of the holdingclamp of the clamp;

FIG. 15 is an upper perspective view of the plate where the food of thebird is received;

FIG. 16 is a bottom plan view of the plate;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the food distribution hopper;

FIG. 18 is a bottom plan view of the food distribution hopper;

FIG. 19 is a rear elevation view of the hopper in FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a front perspective view of the hollow shutter;

FIG. 21 is a view on the upper floor of the shutter;

FIG. 22 is a front elevation perspective view of the shutter taken fromits grip;

FIG. 23 shows a side left elevation view of the shutter;

FIG. 24 is a left side plan view in longitudinal section of the poultryfeeder, showing the coupling between the clamp, its holder, thedistribution hopper and food receiving plate;

FIG. 25 is an upper rear elevation view of the feeder of the invention,in transverse cross-section showing the coupling between the clamp, itsholder, hopper and plate;

FIG. 26 is an upper plan schematic view of the feeder of the presentinvention, where the number of birds that can be incorporated thereuntofor a given perimeter is illustrated; and

FIG. 27 is an upper plan schematic view of a feeder of the state of theart, where the number of birds that can be incorporated thereunto forthe same perimeter that the one in FIG. 26 is illustrated.

In the present invention the terms left, right, rear, front, upper andlower are merely auxiliary to the description of the invention andshould not be limiting of the position of the poultry feeder or of itsorientation. Thus, for example, the front view of the poultry feeder isa mirror image of the rear view and side views are mirror images therebetween.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The poultry feeder of the present invention relates to a device thatwill be used to store food and be a food dispenser component mainly forbirds that are found in floor or in a cage, that need to be continuouslyfeeding, efficiently, distributed, hygienic, and safe, mainly duringtheir initiation period, which extends from the first day of age untilthe age of twenty-one days, but can be used in adult birds or otheravian species.

It has been scientifically proven that a bird during its first threedays after birth can pollute and waste more than forty grams of food byeffect of defecation, scratching with the legs, beak rake, stepping thefood along with the introduction of bed material such as: wheat straw,wood shavings, rice husks, soil, etc. It is very important, to estimatethe economic impact of this problem, taking into account that in ahi-tech production place depending on their dimensions, may produce fromtwenty-five thousand up to sixty thousand birds; and in the case ofproduction of birds in cage, up to one hundred and fifty thousand.

The feeder of the present invention can be placed on any type of floor,whether uneven, leveled, and grated floors, thanks to its rectangulargeometry with rounded front and rear ends, takes up less physical spacewithin the hi-tech production placel and at the same time provides agreater area of feeding, archiving feeding and producing a greaternumber of birds per square meter, which will result in a significanthigher production of birds and a higher production of meat by bird/foodconsumed.

The poultry feeder for birds shown in FIG. 1, comprises: a bifurcatedclamp (100) shown in detail in FIGS. 6 to 13; a bifurcated holdingnozzle (200) shown in FIG. 14; a shutter (300) shown in detail in FIGS.20 to 23; a hopper (400) shown in detail in FIGS. 17-19 and a foodreceiving plate (500), shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

The clamp embraces a food supply tube, the holding nozzle (200)surrounds the clamp, the hopper hangs from the nozzle and the receivingplate hangs from the hopper.

The clamp (100), generally of cylindrical shape, shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and8 (among others) is formed by two halves substantially symmetrical,semi-cylindrical, upper and lower (101,102 respectively) that worktogether to embrace to the supply tube for bird bulk food. Each half ofthe clamps comprises three sections: upper left side (101 a), lower sideleft (102 a); upper central (101 b), lower central (102 b); upper rightside (101 c), lower right side (102 c) see FIGS. 6, 8 and 13, forexample. Being the central sections of the higher width and diameter.Flanges (103) that divide the center sections are of larger diameterthan the flanges on the sides (103 a, 103 b). Flanges (103) include aprotruding end or stop (103 c) which serves as a stop of maximumsecurity rotation when the feeder must be moved to the rest/washed anddisinfected position. In order to slide the shutter (300), flange (103b) has been omitted on the lower side of the clamp, just by the sidewhere the shutter enters.

The upper half (101) (FIG. 3) of the clamp comprises two semicirculartabs (104), and the lower half (102) comprises two protruding ends (105)with two grooves each. Each tab (104) is introduced into each firstgroove (105 a) of each protruding end (105), to interlock and form theclamp (100), which is held closed by means of corresponding bolts withnut or similar fastening elements (not shown). The second grooves (105b) are used to allow the complete closure of the clamp receiving thefront edge of the tab. Both grooves are separated by means of a pin (105c), which also serves as the pivoting axis for the tab (104).

The upper center section of the ratchet (101 b) comprises a centralratchet groove (106) that includes at least two, preferably three,protruding ends (106 a) as ratchet mode and their correspondingdepressions (106 b). These ratchets work in conjunction with aprotruding end (201 a) located in the internal face of the nozzle (200)(see FIG. 14), in order to fix one of the two or three positions to thefeeder (100), of storage on-site or cleaning.

The upper central section (101 b) further comprises two totally smoothcircular surfaces (107) having a diameter greater than the centralratchet groove (106). Both circular surfaces (107) serve as rotatingsupporting areas for the holding nozzle (200). The width of the uppercentral section (101 b) corresponds to the total outer width of theparts (201, 202) of the holding nozzle (200).

The upper half (101) also comprises, in each one of the upper endsections (101 a) and (101 c), grooves (109), which have a rectangularrounded shape with side openings, these openings are placed inserts offlexible material (not shown), which make contact with the feeding tubeand have the function of preventing the clamp from sliding when thefeeding tube is the smooth type. Similarly, it includes two drill holes(110) to indicate the position of the clamp.

As mentioned, the present feeder can be used in smooth automatic feedingtubes or with a flange. Tubes with a flange have as a relevant featureto include a side tube which serves as a dragging device of the feederat the time of turning the tube (if desired). In the present invention,also includes a groove (111) to connect to the side tube and can be usedwith this type of flange tube, but equally this poultry feeder can beused with smooth tubes.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are views of the internal parts of the clamp, in whichthe internal configuration is appreciated, in general, following to theexternal shape, i.e. the protruding ends and depressions in the outerpart are also observed in the inner part of the clamp.

Returning to FIG. 10, the number (300 a) designates the groove where theshutter passes through (300). Through this groove, the shutterlongitudinally slides, that includes an opening dimensioned andconfigured to work in conjunction with the opening (112) of the clamp.FIG. 13 is a bottom plan view of the lower clamp which shows manyalready described structures. The most relevant issue is the centralpart where, at the center, there is an opening (112). In this samefigure, can be seen the stop and rest (115) of the shutter. Once theshutter (200) travels through all of the inside of the clamp, the samerests on this stop in order to serve it as a support and prevent it fromslipping out of the clamp. As has been described, the shutter is used toallow or prevent the passing through of food into the feeder. Anotherway to prevent the passing through of food to the feeder is turning thefeeder so that exit (112) cannot be used.

In order to hold among them and in a detachable manner the halves (101)and (102), include, besides the tabs (104), protruding ends (108). Theseprotruding ends comprise, each one, a drilling (108 a) so that, throughthem, a screw can be passed that will be threaded to a nut (not shown).One or both sides of the protruding ends (108) comprise, in depression,the shape of the nut in order to reduce the number of tools used for theassembly of the clamp.

In order to allow the passing through of the bulk food from the feedingtube to the plate (500) of the feeder, the lower half of the clamp (102)includes an opening (112) of rectangular, oval or cylindrical shape asrequired by the design of the feeder (see FIG. 11), although rectangularor square shaped perforations are preferred. The groove (111) runsparallel to the length of the feeding tube and for the entire length ofthe clamp (100).

Both, the upper half (101) as the lower half (102) of the clamp include,in their respective intermediate sections (101 b) and (102 b), adepression (113), in the form of rectangular wedge, located at thejunction between the two halves (101) and (102), horizontally justbetween the protruding ends (108). This depression (113) allows a fixingscrew of the holding nozzle introduced in the protrusions (205), to bescrewed without interference on the part of the outer body of the clamp.The hole (114) formed by the union of the two halves (101) and (102) hasthe dimensions to adapt to the feeding tube into an adjusted assembly toavoid the free rotation of the clamp.

As it is obvious from the above description, the clamp can be rotated ifand only if the feeding tube is turned (in case to be coupled to a tubewith a drag line). But this is an inconvenience because it would implythat, if there are more feeders attached to the feeding line, then allshould be rotated in the same proportion and in the same direction,which is not desirable in the practice since, as has been indicated, thefeeders of the present invention can be feeders that are insertedbetween birdfeeders for birds in later stages of development. In orderto overcome this drawback, the holding nozzle (200) was developed. Thefunctions of the holding nozzle t (200) are to hold the clamp, allow andcontrol the passing of the food through toward the plate, and allow therotation of the poultry feeder individually with respect to the rest ofthe feeders placed on the feeding tube.

The nozzle (200) is divided into two parts: (201) and (202) of thenozzle. The first part (201) includes an upper portion (203) ofgenerally cylindrical shape and a second lower section (204) ofgenerally rectangular shape, with a transitional intermediate portionbetween the parts (203) and (204).

The second part (202) also includes an upper portion (203 a) of agenerally cylindrical portion and a second lower portion (204 a)generally rectangular shape, with a transition zone between the portions(203 a) and (204 a).

The upper portion (203) embraces the central sections (101 b) and (102b) of the clamp (100), in sliding form, i.e. grabs the clamp in thecentral sections but at the same time allows the rotation of the clampwith respect to the nozzle (200). The surface area of the upper portion(203) covers approximately 75%±25% of the surface of the centralsections (101 b) and (102 b) of the clamp although higher and minorpercentages can be used, provided that the assembly process of thefeeder and its mounting the feeding tube are not affected. The lowerportion (203 a) embraces the same sections (101 b) and (102) but in therest of the periphery not covered by the upper portion (203).

Both side ends of the upper portion (203) and the lower portion (203 a)are limited by protruding flanges (206) of irregular shape in order toprevent that, during the operation, the edges of these protruding endsoverlap with the edges (103) of the clamp. In this sense, theinteraction between these flanges goes beyond only touching to stop inorder not to overlap, in effect, the flange (103) of the clamp includesa protrusion (103 c) which collides with a stop (206 a) located on theside of the protruding end (206), so that when the feeder is rotatedaround the feeding tube, such rotation is limited in its maximumamplitude by the clash of these two elements.

It has been mentioned that the feeder can be rotated and kept in twopositions. This rotation is limited of 130° to 150° and 150° to 170°with respect to the horizontal. To stay in position, a ratchet systemhas been designed where the teeth are located in the groove (106) of theclamp (100) and are represented by the teeth (106 a) and theircorresponding depressions (106 b).

The rectangular lower portion (204) has two pairs of clips or pins (207)and two pairs of clips or pins (208), entered in the respective grooves(207 a) and (208 a) located in the lower portion (204 a). Preferred thatthe assembly (208-208 b) is larger than the assembly (207-207 a).

This type of assembly between the portions (201) and (202) has beenselected because this is how the base of this lower portion (204) may beintroduced within a corresponding perforation (401) located in thehopper (400) and assembling the nozzle while holding the two portions(201) and (202) already within the perforation (401).

In order to engage more appropriately, and to allow adequate filling ofthe food inside the hopper (400), the nozzle (200) comprises, at thelower end, of each of the portions (204) and (204 a) a semi-cylindricalprotrusion (209) which corresponds in shape and dimensions with aprotruding end (402) located in the perforation (401).

In order to allow or prevent the flow of food from the feeding tube tothe holding nozzle (200), to hopper (400) and at the plate of food(500), has been placed a semi-circular shutter (300) (see FIGS. 2-4,20-23, for example).

The shutter is placed just below the clamp (100) and crosses in ahorizontal direction to the holding nozzle (200), the position of theshutter is such, that once in working position, this is just below theinner floor of the clamp (100) existing only the thickness of the clampwall, as separation between the feeding tube and this shutter, seekingthat this separation is as small as possible, wherever they make contactwith each other.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the longitudinal axis of the shutter (300) isparallel to the longitudinal axis of the clamp (200) and perpendicularto the longitudinal axis of the plate (500).

In FIGS. 20-23, it is shown that the shutter is generally long with asemi-circular cross-section, which radius is such that the upper surfaceof the same coincide in shape and dimensions to adapt to the externalsurface of the central bottom clamp, specifically with the opening(112). The shutter comprises a body generally flat and long semicircular(301) with a window (302), a handle (303), side front and upper ridges(304), the stop means (305), an upper surface (306) and a bottom surface(307). The window (302) is located on the end opposite to thelongitudinal handle (303), and includes the stop device (305) in one orboth side ridges (304). The upper surface (306) is curved and smooth sothat it slides smoothly through a groove located in the clamp, the sideedges are rounded and match the shape of which groove (8) located in thetransition zone between the semicircular portion (201) and rectangularportion (202) of the clamp (200). Given this feature of free sliding,during the operation or storage, there is a risk that this shutter (300)is not located appropriately and allows the free passing through of foodfrom the opening 112. To prevent this situation, or the stop device(305), is dimensioned so that they stop out with a correspondingprotruding end (112 a).

When the shutter is in a first “passing through” position, out of theclamp, the shutter (300) stops the run by contact of the stop device(305) with the protruding end (112 a) and releases the passing throughof food through the opening (112) and, on the contrary, when it is in asecond position of “no passing through”, towards the inside of theclamp, there is no contact between the means (305) and the protrudingend (112 a) and prevents the passing through of food. Obviously, therecan be intermediate positions with different percentages of food passingthrough.

The window (302) coincides in dimensions and configuration with theopening (112) of the clamp (100), so as to permit the free passingthrough or the total or partial closure of the food when desired.

As shown in FIG. 22, the handle (303) is detached from the bottomsurface (307) and is biased from its longitudinal axis in order not tointerfere with the throat (200).

The clamp (100) is firmly secured to the feeding tube (not shown) and tothe nozzle (200); the nozzle is fixed fitting well, by weight, the setof parts formed by the hopper (400) and at the plate (500), being, theonly means of retaining the throat between the hopper and the parts andfood weight when the plate is full.

FIGS. 17-19 show isolated views of the hopper (400) with its perforation(401) and the semi-cylindrical tabs (402) which function is to providestability to the assembly and form a larger cone of food within thehopper which size and shape help to the uniform distribution of foodaround the plate (500).

The perforation (401) has the function to receive the external-lowercontour of the nozzle (200). The perforation (401) and the protrudingtab (402) are located on the upper wall (403) of the hopper, which alsoincludes two parallel side walls (404) perpendicular to the uppersurface (403). Also includes a first sloped front wall (405) and asecond rear wall with the same inclination as the first. At the end ofeach one of the sloped walls (405) a small face or horizontal wall (406)continues, that keep the same dimensions of the faces (405) to finallyjoin by the front end to a vertical front wall (407) and a vertical rearwall (408), which join into a single perimeter.

Vertical front walls, the upper wall (403) the front sloped walls (405),the front and rear vertical walls (407, 408), the horizontal walls (406)and the side walls (404) are joined to form the body of the hopper. Aseries of dividing fins in the form of a rounded bracket (409) areperipherally joined to this body. These fins serve to separate the birdswhile feeding them and do not allow more than one is located in the samespace, even not allowing two birds entering the head in the same spaceof the feeder.

To ease the installation and orientation of the feeder part, a mark onany of the sides of the hopper may be put, for example in the attachedfigures, a button has been included on the rear horizontal wall (406).The horizontal walls have the same numeral given that they aresymmetrical.

Fins are placed at the bottom of the hopper and its lower edge islocated below the bottom edge of the hopper so there is always atolerance in the gap between the bottom edge of the hopper and the floorof the plate (500) (see FIG. 19 for example).

The joining edges between the different walls of the hopper (400) arerounded in order to prevent the accumulation of food and facilitate thecleaning of the feeder, the same is true with the fins (409).

The upper edges of the fins make contact with the perimeter inner edgeof the plate to “charge it” when it is in the working position, i.e.feeding the birds.

The plate (500) comprises (FIG. 15) side walls (501), front and rearwalls (502) rounded and a bottom (503). All the walls have aninclination toward the center of the plate, i.e. with an angle less than90° (acute angle) with respect to the vertical (See FIG. 24 and FIG. 25)and an upper flange (504) which has a sloped tab (505) at an anglehigher than 90 degrees (obtuse angle) with respect to the vertical. Theobjective of this flange is to prevent hurting the birds, the birdsthrowing food and to prevent birds from jumping up into the poultryfeeder. The base has the right height so that birds in their earlystages of growth may not jump on the poultry feeder but at the same timeare able to feed themselves properly.

The plate bottom comprises an extruded area (506) centered on the platewith a pyramidal and triangular shape in cross-section. The height ofthis protrusion coincides with the height of the tab (505), all edges(internal and external) of the protruding end and the plate, have arounded finish and the front walls (507) and rear walls (508) reducetheir width toward the upper flange (504) of the extruded area (506),see FIG. 24 and FIG. 25.

Finally, with the FIGS. 26 and 27 a poultry feeder is built to note thatthe poultry feeder of the present invention surprisingly it was foundthat is a poultry feeder in oval shape, such as the patent ES 2,219,583,shows a lower efficiency with respect to a rectangular shape with frontand rear edges rounded as the present invention. We have enumerated themaximum amount of birds placed immediately after the other and, as canbe seen in such figures, the poultry feeder of the present invention mayallocate in the same perimeter as the poultry feeder of the state of theart, two more birds by feeder. In addition to this technical advantage,the poultry feeder of the present invention has another technicaladvantage because it prevents the birds that are located on the rearpart of the birds that are fed, they try to “get into” the spacesbetween bird and bird, because such spaces are reduced due to the samearrangement of birds around the poultry feeder of the present invention.This novel form of poultry feeder improves animal welfare through theimprovement of the food distribution system, of the distribution ofbirds around the poultry feeder, delimiting the spaces of feeding andthe habitation space when the birds are not eating, and finallyimproving the productive efficiency of the birds by reducing aviaryproduction costs which has a ratio of birds per unit area greater thanany of the poultry feeders known to date.

For example, for a poultry feeder with an area of 85 cm² of the ovaltype as shown in FIG. 27, 20 birds can be placed, while that for thesame area using the configuration of the poultry feeder of the presentinvention, the amount of birds is 22.

In FIG. 26, birds are distributed more evenly, and there are no areas ofconflict for the birds to eat, since mainly at the ends the same aredistributed ideally, what is known in the state of the art. On the otherhand, FIG. 27 of the poultry feeder for the state of the art, it isnoted that by the ends, the area is reduced and there is a greatconflict in “the corners” involving 4 birds, where only 3 fit, butmainly the two chickens that eat at the ends are the most competing forthe same food, since their heads are bumping each other and when onebird eats, the other stops eating because it has no space. This problemreduces the food intake of some birds, which is the most serious issuebecause the bird is not gaining weight.

In the present invention, the spatial references: front and rear, side,left, right, etc., are relative terms that depend on the position of thepoultry feeder and the observer, so that they should not be taken aslimiting, but as an example of the description of the invention.

1. A bird feeder comprising: a clamp; a holding nozzle; a shutter; ahopper; a food receiving plate; wherein: the clamp is bifurcated andembraces a food supply tube; the holding nozzle is bifurcated andsurrounds the clamp; the hopper hangs from the holding nozzle; the foodreceiving plate hangs from the hopper; the clamp has a cylindrical shapeand includes an upper half and a lower half, the upper half and thelower half are symmetrical and have a semi-cylindrical shape, the upperhalf and the lower half work together to embrace the food supply tube;each one of the clamp half comprises: an upper left side section; abottom left side section; an upper center section; a central bottomsection; an upper right side section; a bottom right side section; whereeach one of the central sections has a width and a diameter, each one ofthe lateral sections has a width and a diameter, the width and the ofeach one of the central section is greater than the width and thediameter of the lateral sections; the sections are divided by flanges,the flanges dividing the central section has a larger diameter than adiameter of the flanges on the lateral sections, the flanges comprise aprotrusion or stop which serves as a stop of maximum rotation ofsecurity to rotate the feeder.
 2. The bird feeder, according to claim 1,wherein the upper half comprises two semicircular tabs and the lowerhalf comprises two protrusions with a first groove and a second grove,each tab is entered into the first groove for each one of theprotrusions, to be assembled and thus forming the clamp, the clamp isheld closed by fixing elements, the second groove are used to allow thecomplete closure of the clamp receiving the front edge of the tab, thegrooves are separated by a bolt, which also serves as the pivoting axisfor the tab, the upper center section of the ratchet comprises a centralratchet groove that allocates at least two protruding ends in a ratchetmode and their corresponding depressions, the ratchets works inconjunction with a protrusion end located on an inner face of a nozzleto fix the bird feeder in a first position.
 3. The bird feeder accordingto claim 2, wherein the upper central section further comprises twosmooth and circular surfaces having a diameter greater than a diameterof the central ratchet groove, both having circular surfaces which serveas areas of turn support for the holding nozzle, the width of the uppercentral section corresponds to a total width of an outer parts of theholding nozzle, the upper half also comprises, in each one of the upperend sections, a groove which has a rectangular shape with rounded sideopenings, the gaps include inserts made of flexible material which makecontact with the feeding tube and prevent the clamp from slipping whenthe feeding tube has a smooth surface, also includes two drill holes toindicate the position of the clamp, the clamp also includes a groove. 4.The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the centralsection includes a groove where a shutter passes through, working alongwith an opening sized and configured to allow or prevent the passingthrough of food from the feeding tube, the bottom section, on the edge,includes a stop and rest for the shutter, the clamp also includes twoprotruding ends, each with a perforation, so that a screw that isthreaded to a nut passes there through, where one or both sides of theprotruding ends comprise, in depression, the shape of the nut.
 5. Thebird feeder according to claim 4, wherein the opening has a rectangular,oval or cylindrical shape and the shape corresponds to a shape of awindow of the shutter, the upper half and the lower half of the clampinclude, in the corresponding intermediate sections, a depression in theform of rectangular wedge, located at a junction between the upper halfand the lower half, horizontally between the protruding ends, where thehole is formed by the junction of the upper half and the lower half andis sized to fit the feeding tube so that the clamp does not have a freeturn.
 6. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the shutter isplaced just below the clamp and crosses the holding nozzle horizontally,in a working position, the shutter is just below the inner floor of theclamp only existing a thickness of a clamp wall, as a separation betweenthe feeding tube and the shutter wherein a longitudinal axis of theshutter is parallel to a longitudinal axis of the clamp andperpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the plate, the shutter is longwith a semicircular cross-section, which radius is such that an uppersurface of the same coincide in shape and dimensions to fit with anexternal surface of the bottom central section, also includes a flat andlong semicircular body, with a window, a handle, side front and upperridges, a stop device, an upper surface, and a bottom surface, whereinthe window is in an end opposite to the handle, and includes the stopdevice in one or both side ridges, the upper surface is concave andsmooth so that is gently slided into the groove, when the shutter isfound in passing through position out of the clamp, the shutter)releases the opening and allows the passing through of food from thefeeding tube and, when found in a no passing through position, towardsthe inside of the clamp, prevents the passing through of the food; thehandle is seen from the bottom surface and is detached from itslongitudinal axis in order not to interfere with the nozzle.
 7. The birdfeeder according to claim 1, wherein the holding nozzle is divided intoa first part and a second part, the first part includes an upper portionof cylindrical shape and a second bottom section of rectangular shape,with a transitional intermediate portion between the first part and thesecond part, the second part includes an upper portion having acylindrical shape and a second bottom portion having rectangular shape,the upper portion embraces the central sections of the clamp in asliding manner by grabbing the clamp in the central sections but at thesame time allowing rotation of the clamp with respect to the nozzle, thesurface area of the upper portion covers 75%+25% of the surface of thecentral sections of the clamp, the bottom portion embraces the samesections but in the rest of the periphery, it is not covered by theupper portion, both sides of the upper portion and the bottom portionare limited by protruding flanges of irregular shape in order to preventthat during the operation, the edges of these protrusions overlap withthe edges of the clamp, the protruding ends bump with a stop located onthe side of the protrusion so that when the feeder rotates around thefeeding tube, such rotation is constrained in its maximum amplitude bythe bumping of these two elements.
 8. The bird feeder according to claim1, wherein the rectangular bottom portion has two pairs of clips or pinsand two pairs of clips or pins that are introduced in the correspondinggrooves and located in the bottom portion where the assembly formed byis larger than the assembly, where the feeder can turn and stay in twopositions: of 130° to 150° and 150° to 170° with respect to thehorizontal.
 9. The bird feeder according to claim 1, wherein the nozzlecomprises, at the bottom end, of each of the portions and, asemi-cylindrical protrusion which corresponds in shape and dimensionswith a protruding end located in a perforation, the coupling of theseportions and with the semi-cylindrical protrusions, coincide in shapeand dimensions to fit and stay together by the own weight of the hopperand plate with or without food.
 10. The bird feeder according to claim1, wherein the hopper includes a perforation and semi-cylindrical tabswhich provide stability to assemble and form a larger cone of foodwithin the hopper, the perforation has couple and receive anexternal-bottom contour of the nozzle, both the perforation as theprotruding tab are located on an upper wall of the hopper, which alsoincludes two parallel side walls perpendicular to the upper surface thehopper also comprises a first sloped front wall and a second rear wallwith the same inclination that the first wall, at the end of each one ofsloped walls continues a small face or horizontal wall that keeps thesame dimensions of the faces to finally join for the front end to avertical front wall and a vertical rear wall, which join into a singleperimeter, vertical walls, the upper layer, the sloped front, the frontand rear vertical walls, the horizontal wall and the side walls arejoined to form the body of the hopper.
 11. The bird feeder according toclaim 10, wherein the hopper includes peripherally a series of fins inthe form of rounded bracket and separate the birds while feeding and donot allow more than one located in the same space in the feeder, thefins are placed at the bottom of the hopper and its lower edge islocated below the bottom edge of the hopper so that there is always atolerance in the gap between the bottom edge of the hopper and the floorof a plate, where the upper edges of the fins make contact with aninternal edge tab of the tab of the plate to “upload” it when it is inworking position.
 12. The bird feeder according to claim 11, wherein theplate includes side walls rounded and a bottom wall, where all the wallshave an inclination toward the center of the plate with an angle lessthan 90° (acute angle) with respect to a vertical and an upper flangewhich has a sloped tab at an angle greater than 90 degrees (obtuseangle) with respect to the vertical, where the base includes apre-determine height such that birds in their early stages of growth maynot jump on the bird feeder, but at the same time are able to feedthemselves properly.
 13. The bird feeder according to claim 12, whereinthe bottom of the plate comprises a centered extruded area with apyramidal shape, being triangular in cross-section, the height of theprotrusion coincides with the height of the tab, all the edges of theplate, have rounded finish walls and the front wall and the back wallsreduce its width toward the upper flange of the extruded area.